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removed from public lands without a single cent in royalties being paid to the American people. <br /> Until the backlog of abandoned hard rock mines littering our public lands are cleaned up,do we really need one <br /> more to add to the list of problem mines in Fremont County,and Colorado?Do we really need a foreign <br /> company using our public lands to mine for gold without paying a dime in royalties? Do we really need a mine <br /> whose end product is a mineral of which 80 percent goes to the manufacture of jewelry? <br /> Truck Traffic <br /> A recent GAO study found that road damage from one fully loaded haul truck is equivalent to the impact of <br /> 9,600 cars.A fully loaded tractor-trailer weighs 20 times more than a typical passenger car at 4,000 pounds, but <br /> the wear and tear caused by the truck is exponentially greater.And when the trucks are overloaded,"as quite a <br /> few of them are,the damage is exponentially worse,"a story in Governing magazine noted."Increasing a fully <br /> loaded truck's legal weight by 10,000 pounds results in a 42 percent increase in road wear. Pavement designed <br /> to last 20 years wears out in seven."Based on their study,the GAO concluded that"[h]heavy and overweight <br /> trucks are a major cause of highway deterioration."And that their damaging effects make it clear that trucks are <br /> the principal cause of traffic related deterioration of the highways. Because of the disproportionate impact of <br /> heavier loads on the roadways,just a small percentage of overweight trucks would significantly decrease the <br /> useful lifespan of U.S. highways.Another analysis contends large trucks and the loads that they haul cause 99 <br /> percent of wear-and-tear on US roads, but only pay for 35 percent of the maintenance. Big trucks take a toll <br /> even on interstate highways designed to handle heavy loads, but the far bigger damage comes to federal, <br /> state,and local roads that are not designed for the massive impact of the huge trucks. One study estimated the <br /> average traffic by large trucks on non-arterial rural roads in the U.S. increased 16%from 2000 to 2019 and the <br /> increased wear and tear has become increasing obvious. DRMs and the county commissioners need be aware <br /> and factor in the tax impacts on the local and state population having to maintain the roads destroyed by this <br /> truck traffic. On the bright side, businesses that specialize in windshield repair have done increasingly well as <br /> the numbers of trucks hauling gravel have increased on our local roads.The impacts of Zephyr's estimated 2 <br /> haul trucks each week is minor when considered by itself but when considered in addition to the heavy haul <br /> traffic coming from the Tezak gravel pit next to highway 50,the gravel haul traffic coming from the Martin- <br /> Marietta gravel pit near State Road 115,the haul traffic from the Parkdale gravel pit in addition to the haul traffic <br /> from the other 23 gravel pits in Fremont County should be very worrisome to DRMS,the Fremont County <br /> Commissioners and the residents of Fremont County. <br /> Permit Number* <br /> Enter valid letter and then numbers,for example M122112211 or C123456789. <br /> M2021046 <br /> Permitting Action Type <br /> Select revision type or leave blank if comment pertains to a new permit application or NOI <br /> Permit Type <br /> County <br /> Fremont <br /> Enter one county only <br /> Site Name <br /> Dawson Gold Mine <br /> Perm ittee/Operator Name <br /> Zephyr Gold USA Ltd. <br /> Comment or Objection <br /> Objection <br /> Support <br /> General Comment <br /> Agency Comment <br />